India, Sept. 3 -- Jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Mohammad Yasin Malik has pleaded not guilty in the 1990 murder case of Kashmiri Pandit woman Sarla Bhat, while telling a special court that he would no longer contest the trial and asking for capital punishment.

Malik, 60, who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail, submitted a 25-page affidavit before the court, describing the charges against him as a "fabricated story" and claiming that the case had been constructed decades later to falsely implicate him.

"Considering my personal circumstances and after deep reflection, I have decided not to contest the trial proceedings further," Malik said in the affidavit. He added that the decision should not be treated as an admiss...